


To Love a Girl

by Krethes



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Injury Recovery, Light Drinking, Lily Evans Potter is a Good Friend, Lily is Remus's Best Friend in the Whole Wide World, M/M, Marauders, Pool Party, Post-Full Moon Fic, Post-Hogwarts, Smoking, Something's Different about Lily, Werewolf Senses are Tingling, summer fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:54:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29848038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krethes/pseuds/Krethes
Summary: Lily is Remus's best friend in the entire world, so when something is off about her, Remus is the first to notice.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 10





	1. Fish & Chips

June 1979

“Remus, are you decent? I’m coming in!” 

Remus jerked his head up from his pillow and groaned. ‘ _ Oww…’  _ He'd peeled his face from the pillowcase, which was never a good sign. He looked down. There was a line of blood there from a scabbing wound on his cheek. Hastily, he turned the pillow over and tucked it behind him, out of sight, out of mind. 

Before he could do anything else, the lock turned on his front door and it swung open, squeaking at the very end like it always did. A humming Lily Potter stepped into the midday darkness of the flat and brought with her the smell of fish and chips (no malt, blessed girl) and a bag of lemons. 

Seeing Remus on the sofa, she threw a brilliant smile his way as she kicked off her shoes to join the pile of much larger pairs at the door. She was dressed for the terrible heat in a short hunter green jumpsuit, the top two buttons undone. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail but despite all that, the fine hairs on her forehead and at the nape of her neck were dark with sweat and beads gathered at her temples. “Christ it’s hot out, isn’t it?” Remus felt a pang of guilt for living on the third floor.

Remus, wearing a pair of Sirius’s athletic shorts (that were far too short and far too baggy in the waist) and one of Sirius’s red-and-white striped tank tops, had to agree. He was always hot-natured, but this was ridiculous. They didn’t have central air in their tiny flat and cooling charms only went so far. His tank stuck to his chest and his curly hair hung limp around his face. 

Had she been anyone else, excluding the Marauders of course, Remus would have been mortified about showing off so much of his skin, and he was displaying quite a lot. He put a significant effort into covering himself up in public, but Lily knew everything about  _ that _ . Actually, she practically knew everything about  _ him _ . It wasn’t as terrifying of a reality as Remus once thought it would be. He felt fortunate to have Lily in his life. 

Lily sat next to him with kind delicacy, careful not to jostle him. “Poor little lamb,” she whispered, brushing back a damp curl from his brow. “James said you were in a right state when he came home this morning.” Remus felt her eyes wash over him, taking in the damage. 

Sirius and Peter had been called away for a mission for the Order and so he'd only had James for companionship for his transformation. Prongs was all well and good and they had a fine and uneventful time, but the wolf  _ missed _ its canine friend. Its displeasure was apparent in the open gash on his cheek and the sluggishly-bleeding claw marks across his chest covered in an ace bandage. 

“I’ve had far worse, Lily, it’s alright,” he tried to assure her, leaning into her touch. Her hands were blissfully cool on his forehead. His wounds were almost healed anyway thanks to James’s basic healing spells and his own natural ability to heal quickly.   


“Well the fact remains. Hungry?” She offered him a greasy packet of the fish and grinned when she heard his stomach growl. “Stupid question,” Lily laughed at herself. 

Remus sat up gingerly and stretched his legs way out with a satisfied groan, joints popping loudly. He'd been curled up on the couch since moonset and had only budged when James threw clothes at him to "hide his shame when my wife comes by later". It felt good to move again even if his muscles were still sore from going from man to wolf to man again in a handful of hours.

“Have you grown  _ again?  _ Remus, I just saw you two weeks ago!” Lily asked, shocked, looking at the sheer amount of tan leg that revealed itself. Her hand rested on his bony shoulder and she frowned slightly, feeling only jutting bone beneath his skin. Remus watched her eyes slide across his thin chest and her other hand felt his spine, prominent. 

She stood up suddenly and strode into the kitchenette with her bag of lemons. “That’s it, I’m making this lemonade  _ now _ because you need  _ calories _ . Have my fish, too. Does Sirius feed you? What’s in your refrigerator?” 

Remus watched Hurricane Lily tear through his kitchen, touched by her tutting and scoffing when she saw four open bags of digestives in the cupboard but only three eggs, and a mostly-empty carton of milk and six-pack of beer in the ice box. “This is  _ it _ ? Remus!” she admonished. A piece of paper appeared in front of her, magical script jotting down items autonomously.

“Lily, you don’t--”

“Absolutely not, Remus Lupin. Sirius won’t be back for three days and this isn’t going to last you. You’re in no shape to go to the store, and if you try to stop me, well… there’s not much I can do about that but you  _ won’t _ stop me.” Her green eyes flashed dangerously at him and he withdrew into the couch, subdued by the might of the 5’4” witch in his kitchen.

“Yes, ma'am,” Remus responded, resigned. He’d  _ meant _ to do the shopping before the full moon, but the heat wave kept him tied to his flat. His body temperature was already naturally a few degrees higher than your average human’s and heat made him irritable. The few days before the full moon made him even more irritable. He would’ve had to wear long sleeves and long pants to hide his telling scars and it was all just too much. Things were so much harder when Sirius wasn’t around.    
  
Satisfied, Lily tucked the list in her pocket and started chopping lemons. “I’m not trying to be a pest, Remus,” she apologized softly, barely audible over the sound of the knife on the cutting board. She  _ was _ acting a little more mother-hen than Remus was used to, but Lily hadn’t been in this role very often. Most of their interactions were on a more level playing field, not her taking  _ care _ of him.

“You aren’t Lily, don’t fret.” Remus stood with care and joined her in the kitchen, leaning his lanky frame on the counter across from Lily. This close, he really did tower over her, Lily’s red ponytail barely reaching the top of his sternum. He knew he’d grown by the way his jeans only reached the tops of his ankles, and by the way Sirius had to reach a little further to kiss him goodbye. He was tired of it, really, the growing pains blending into full moon pains. He was nineteen. It had to end sometime, right?

“Eat your fish,” Lily instructed, grabbing more lemons.

He saluted her playfully and retrieved the fish with a flick of his wand. He broke open one of the filets and took a grateful bite, moaning softly around the beer-battered goodness. Lily’s tinkling laughter made him smile, but he made quick work of the three pieces in his basket. 

“I  _ do _ eat, you know,” Remus murmured as he polished off the french fries with ease, licking his fingers shamelessly.

Lily’s frown seemed more to do with the effort of squeezing the lemons into the pitcher rather than discontent at his words. “I know, Remus, I know. I just wish we could put a little bulk on you. I’d worry less.” She paused in her squeezing to meet his eyes, hers a little over-bright.

Remus wiped his hands on the scant fabric of the shorts and put his hands on her shoulders to turn her. Lily put her last lemon down and looked up at him, surprised. He pulled her into a gentle hug, minding the tears in his chest, and held her close for several seconds. She was so good to him. She always smelled so nice, like… fresh tea and rosehips and… something else? Something… new… 

He knew it was weird, but he turned his head to press his nose against her temple, inhaling again. Something was different. Lily laughed at him and pushed him away, glancing up with a questioning look. “Okay,  _ Padfoot _ ,” she joked at the veritable snuffling, returning to her squeezing. Over her shoulder, she asked, “Where’s your sugar?”

Remus fetched it for her dutifully from the top cupboard (Sirius put it there for no other reason other than to see Remus reach for it every morning for his tea), puzzled by what he’d just smelled. It wasn’t bad or worrisome, it was just… different. 

Lily poured in one cup of sugar, took a look at Remus’s hip bones jutting through the polyester shorts, and added a second cup for good measure. “You could come stay with us, you know,” she said while adding warm water from the tap. “Just until Sirius gets back… Must be awfully quiet here without his racket.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “It’s just  _ three _ more days -- maybe less-- , and we’ll see you next week for your cookout! As much as I love the pair of you, Lily, I  _ cannot _ be in the same house as newlyweds.” He gave her a knowing look and she pinked up prettily in embarrassment. 

“Remus Lupin! If you weren’t so beat up I’d swat you!” she scolded, flicking her tea towel at him anyway, her eyes crinkling at the corners. "Eat the other packet of fish. I had a big breakfast." 

He complied and tucked into the other basket happily as Lily stirred the water into the pitcher vigorously. She poured two glasses over ice and handed him one, which he accepted with thanks. It was a little warm still, but the sugar felt wonderfully restorative, even if the citric acid did burn his raw throat on the way down. 

The second serving of fish and chips lasted no longer than the first, and he tossed the newspaper into the trash bin and washed his hands in the sink. He splashed a little water on his face and smoothed back his curls from his forehead. When he straightened up, Lily was on the couch and had cleaned his stuffed-away pillow with a tap of her wand. Too good to him.

But Lily didn't mention it, she was a good friend like that. When Remus sat beside her, she maneuvered so that his legs draped across her lap, his back against the arm of the sofa. It really wasn't big enough for two (unless they wanted to be intimately close), but despite that and the heat, Remus liked the closeness.

He'd spent the last eight years, or the most of them, in elbows-jabbing contact with three other boys. The past three years saw him connected at the hip to Sirius, and he'd grown accustomed to all that entailed. The constant contact at night (Sirius  _ had _ to touch him in some way, usually a leg thrown over his thigh or his fingers curled around his bicep), the comfortable companionship of sharing a small space with someone you loved. It was nice. Four days (and three to go) had been  _ difficult _ , and he was going a little stir crazy. 

Lily snatched the television remote from a bin near the sofa and clicked on the TV with a happy noise. "James wants a telly  _ soo _ badly! I just don't know how it would work in Godric's Hollow, you know? Nothing’s electric, but-- oh! The University Challenge! I haven't seen this since I was a kid!"

She turned the volume up a little and watched in rapt attention as she drank her lemonade. 

They spent the entire afternoon watching assorted Muggle programs on television and demolished the entire pitcher of lemonade. When the sun began to set, James appeared in his living room with his arms full of Chinese takeaway. "Hungry?" He asked, smiling from ear-to-ear.

His friends were too good to him, Remus mused again, diving into a white box of noodles. When James came close enough to hand him a beer from the fridge, Remus inhaled deeply, subtly.  _ Hmm _ . He smelled fine. So it wasn't something new in their home that made Lily's smell change. 

He chewed his lower lip thoughtfully, interrupted by the sudden arrival of Sirius Black in their living room, looking tired but whole.  _ ‘Thank god.’ _

Sirius's lips, warm, and his arms, like iron around his body as he held him a little too tight banished all thoughts of Lily or James or anyone else in the world from his mind and he melted into the embrace.

James and Lily laughed and quietly excused themselves from the flat, leaving the two men intertwined.

"Hungry?" Sirius asked when they finally broke for air, seeing the stacks of half-empty cartons on their coffee table.

"Ravenous," Remus replied and savored the predatory way Sirius looked at him in his obviously-borrowed clothing. Sirius picked him up and carried him to their bedroom, the Chinese food forgotten.


	2. Cider and Burgers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy chapter 2! Chapter 3 will be a little epilogue. :)

Remus spent the week between the full moon and the Potters’ party wrapped up in Sirius. They hadn’t been apart since they graduated, and the four days Sirius was away had felt like a lifetime. Sirius utilized every waking moment making up for missing the full moon, and Remus was amazed at how much he could love the man.

They Apparated to Godric’s Hollow laden with a blueberry pie and case of cider. Lily had told them not to bring anything, but they weren’t  _ animals _ . Sirius strode through the door without knocking, easily bypassing the locking charms and Remus followed him into the house. 

He loved the Potters’ home; it smelled lived-in but clean with a perfect combination of James’s and Lily’s scent in every corner. It felt comfortable to Remus, their decor practical but beautiful, Lily’s touch clear in the lack of Quidditch memorabilia on every wall as James would’ve no doubt preferred. Remus sat the pie on the counter next to a cooling tin of fairy cakes, which he eyed with interest.

“Lily will kill you~,” came a sing-song voice to his left and Remus jumped a little in his skin. He turned to look at Marlene, all tan skin and blonde hair, and smiled wanly.

“She might forgive me, you never know,” he replied, hovering his hand over the small cakes.

Marlene laughed and gave him a little shove. The smell of Muggle sunscreen radiated off her, a little coconut-y, familiar and pungent. “James has turned their little paddle puddle into a full-on  _ pool _ , you comin' in?” she asked as she strode past him. She tugged off her floral cover-up to reveal a barely-there red bikini and winked broadly at Remus before disappearing outside.

Smiling to himself at Marlene’s boldness, Remus abandoned the baked goods and followed her out.

Remus knew James was amazingly talented at Transfiguration, but this was next level. The last time he was at their house, they’d had a small inflatable lounging pool in their pocket of a yard. Now, he looked at a vast swimming pool complete with a diving board and floaties. The pool seemed to be bigger than the actual yard and yet there was still room for a charcoal grill and patio furniture.

“Moony!!” James, in swimming trunks and already sunburned, was on him in a second. He’d left Sirius standing at the Muggle grill, looking both confused and enthralled by the contraption. He met James in a hug that made his back pop and they parted, laughing. “Padfoot was saying you’d made a pie?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I did. It’s inside,” Remus answered, a little distracted when he saw Sirius pull his shirt over his head and kick off his shorts to stand there, unbothered, in his black speedo. Three years together and Sirius in the sunlight still took his breath away. Remus whispered a sunblock charm and Sirius looked over at him sharply, grinning, as the spell settled over his bare shoulders.

“Get a  _ room _ ,” James teased good-naturedly, gave Remus another squeeze, and went to relieve Sirius from his duty. 

Mary and Peter greeted him cheerfully from where they lounged on striped pool floaties, beers in hand, and Remus waved back. Sirius was at his side, then, offering Remus an ice-cold cider. “Take your shirt off, Moony,” he whispered and Remus shivered. 

Before they’d left the house, Sirius covered Remus in a web of glamor charms to hide his scars. Remus stared at himself for a long time after, in the mirror, not recognizing the markless body in front of him. Even his first bite had been concealed, but if he pressed his fingertips to his hip, he could still feel it, raised and brutal. 

Remus didn’t move for nearly five minutes, and Sirius had to break him out of his trance. “I prefer you au naturale,” he had murmured, lips on his shoulder blades, “don’t work yourself up.” Remus looked at Sirius then and knew he meant every word, which gave him the courage to go on.

Now at the Potters, Remus was still a little nervous. Lily knew he was a werewolf, but Mary and Marlene were outside of their immediate circle. He took a sip from his cider and decided to trust in Sirius’s handiwork. With Sirius’s unnecessary help, Remus’s shirt came off, touseling his long sandy curls into something wilder.

Peter and James wolf-whistled at him and Remus made a rude gesture in return, shaking his head. Marlene’s mouth was open a little and she shot Mary a look that clearly read ‘I see why you fancied him!’ before giving Remus a thumb’s up. “Who knew you were so…  _ mmm _ , under there, Remus,” Marlene shouted, laughing at Sirius’s proud smirk.

“Me, I knew,” Sirius retorted, his hand on the small of Remus’s back before it vanished, like Sirius, who catapulted himself into the pool with a whoop.

Remus and James were splashed with droplets of cool water, and James shouted, “Oi! The food!!”, not that it made any difference. 

The back door opened and Remus turned to watch as Lily, wearing a high-cut two-piece in a banana leaf print, green and white, came out to join them. Her hair was in a loose braid around his shoulder and she, too, smelled like Coppertone sunscreen. She smiled first at James, who looked dumbstruck as always (they’d been married almost two years and he was still hopeless) but her face lit up when she saw Remus.

She hugged him and through the layers of sunblock,  _ that smell _ , the one he couldn’t place, hit him. Remus drew back and fixed Lily with a confused stare, searching her face. Lily misread his expression and tugged a lock of his hair playfully. “You look  _ fine _ , jump in, c’mon,” she insisted. Her fingers wrapped around his bony wrist and she pulled him towards the pool.

“Oh no no no,” Remus protested, half-heartedly-but-successfully resisting her man-handling, but then Peter was there and had his other wrist and together they tossed him in. 

The water was  _ cold _ and a little jarring. It made his chest ache with the suddenness of it, but he adapted quickly. Remus had basically been raised in the water, a seaside child, and surfaced with a grin. Lily followed him a moment afterward with a squeal as James and Sirius tossed her in, “And that’s for Moony!”, and she joined Remus on the ledge after they pulled themselves up.

There was still something different about her, not washed away by the water, and Remus found himself staring at her as she walked over to James.

“Oi! Lupin! Eyes off my smokin’ hot wife,” James admonished from the other side of the pool, brandishing a metal spatula.

“Oi! Potter!” Sirius, pulling his hair into a low ponytail, “Don’t harass my  _ boyfriend _ .” He glared at James from over the top of his mirrored black aviators, his eyes silver in the sunlight.

“He was-- he was--” James sputtered, gesturing vaguely with the spatula. Lily rolled her eyes and took over the grilling; some of the burgers were beginning to smell burnt. James and Sirius faced off for a few moments and Remus knew if it had just been the five of them, Sirius would’ve probably turned into Padfoot just to cover James in wet dog smell.

Deflated, James hovered near Lily, and Remus and Sirius swam around for a little. On the far edge of the pool, Sirius pulled Remus close and cocked his head. “You keep staring at Lily, what’s going on?” 

Remus considered for the briefest of moments asking Sirius to turn into Padfoot to see if  _ he _ smelled anything weird, but banished the absurd thought. “It’s really weird,” he muttered, keeping his voice low.

“What, that she agreed to marry Prongs? I agree,” Sirius joked, but kept his volume down also, conspiratorial.

“She just… it’s hard to explain. Something seems different. I don’t know. It’s probably nothing.” 

“If anyone would know, it’d be Prongs, I guess. Ask him,” Sirius suggested helpfully. He stretched out languidly on the hot bricks and folded his arms behind his head. “Mmm,” he all but purred, “wake me when Lily’s rescued lunch.”

Remus flicked him with a bit of water, which earned him a swat on his ass, and he rose chuckling to approach James, who had been banished to setting plastic plates on the table. 

“James, can I have a word?” Remus asked as nonchalantly as he could, watching Lily from the corner of his eye.

“Sure, mate.”

Remus pulled him off to the side a little and turned so their backs were to Lily. “Is… Lily okay?” 

James’s face paled and he grabbed Remus’s arm. “What? What do you mean ‘is she okay’? Did she say something? Does, oh no, does she want a  _ divorce _ ?” His hazel eyes were wide behind his glasses and he kept sneaking glances over his shoulder at Lily. 

Of  _ course _ that was James’s response. Remus groaned and shook his head. “No-- god, no. Just… nevermind. She loves you.” He gave James a reassuring pat and polished off the cider he’d abandoned earlier. 

Hmm.

Mary, in a red high-cut one-piece, helped Lily dish out the burgers and hotdogs. Remus piled his bun high with three patties (Lily know how to feed him), cheese, and every topping imaginable, and Peter laughed when he saw the teetering mess. 

“You’ll need to unhinge your jaw,” Peter joked.

Remus immediately elbowed Sirius, who had his mouth open to say something wildly inappropriate, in the ribs, cutting him short.

The seven of them fell into an easy cadence, laughing and reminiscing about this and that from Hogwarts. Marlene felt it necessary to ask why Remus was so against taking off his clothes that one time they played strip poker for Sirius’s birthday, if he looked the way he did, and seemed to take satisfaction in how Remus blushed. Sirius threw his arm around his shoulder protectively. “He was saving himself for  _ me _ , you daft bird,” he proclaimed and kissed him soundly on the mouth.

Lily stood up suddenly and ran inside, looking a little green. James was after her in a flash, Remus hot on his heels. James hovered outside of their bedroom, looking worried. “She won’t let me in,” he pouted when he saw Remus. Remus heard Lily vomiting and realization dawned like daybreak.

“I’ll check on her, go… go back to the others. I think she’s okay,” Remus assured, and after a few moments of hesitation, James complied. 

“Lils?” Remus called, rapping on the door. He heard the latch unlock and went through to find Lily sitting on the bathroom tile, knees drawn up to her chest.

He approached slowly and sat next to her, the cool tile like fire to his sun-warmed skin. He watched her carefully, seeing the cogs spinning behind her eyes. “Are you…” he faltered for the words he’d never asked before. “Is there…”

Lily met his eyes and hers widened a fraction. “I mean,” she began, but trailed off. 

“You mean…” 

“We haven’t  _ not _ been, y’know, because it’s stupid with the war but we got to thinking about legacy and all sorts of mad things and…” Her breath caught in her throat and her eyes welled with tears. “Oh,  _ Remus. _ It’s only been a few weeks… Do you really think?”

Remus’s chest felt tight and fluttery and he swallowed hard. “Yeah… yeah I do.”

Lily sniffled and was silent for a while, the two of them sitting there on the bathroom floor in damp swimsuits and dripping wet hair. “Is it insane to be… a little happy?” she asked quietly, wiping a tear from her cheek with her thumb.

Remus laughed, surprising himself and Lily with the force behind it, and put a comforting hand on her knee. “I actually think it’s some kind of wonderful, Lily.” She smiled then, a wonderful, heart-breaking smile, and they both got to their feet. “Prongs is going to lose his mind. He’s going to tell everyone he knows. Strangers on the street.” 

Lily laughed and wiped her face with her arm. “Yeah, yeah he is.” There was nothing but love in her voice, her eyes soft with it, about thinking about her future with her husband. “How long have you known?” she asked him suddenly.

Remus blushed and fidgeted with the drawstring of his trunks. “I… I haven’t  _ known- _ known, but y’know… I noticed something was off.” He tapped his nose briefly and Lily’s jaw opened in an ‘oh’. “I would say it’s not as weird as it sounds but it is  _ so _ so weird.” They both chuckled, feeling a little light-headed with emotion.

“I’ll let James in, okay?” Remus offered and gave her a little squeeze. James had been waiting at the end of the hallway and blew past Remus as soon as he left the room.

Remus walked quickly, not wanting to accidentally eavesdrop, and went back outside. Sirius was smoking with Peter and Marlene, and lit a cigarette for Remus when he saw him, eyebrows raised in a question. “She’s okay,” was all Remus could say. He couldn’t just tell him with everyone there, even though his heart raced and he felt giddy with excitement for their friends. 

They hung out for a while, swimming a little. Mary hopped on Marlene’s shoulders to go against Peter on Sirius’s in a game of chicken, and Remus smoked his second cigarette at the edge of the pool, refereeing the game. 

James Apparated suddenly on the patio, wild-eyed and flushed. “I’m having a BABY!” 


End file.
